Founded by
Walter Owen "WO" Bentley who started out modifying the French DFP cars before deciding he could do much better. For a decade Bentley was responsible for manufacturing large, exotic, fast and very expensive motor cars. The company collapsed in 1925, recovered for a time and then collapsed again in 1931. Taken over by Rolls-Royce, the Bentley name would then be used on modified and tuned Rollers. After World War II several "unique" Bentleys were manufactured, including the beautiful two-door R-type Continental of
1952 and S-type of
1955.
Rolls-Royce, and thus Bentley, were taken over in 1998 by
Volkswagen, then in turn
BMW.
Also see: Lost
Marques Bentley |
W.O. Bentley |
The History of Bentley (USA Edition)